Hekate is a large asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the main portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Hekate as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Hekate orbits the sun every 1,980 days (5.42 years), coming as close as 2.57 AU and reaching as far as 3.61 AU from the sun. Hekate is about 85.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.
The rotation of Hekate has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 27.07 hours.
Hekate's spectral type S (Tholen) / S (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .
Hekate's orbit is 1.55 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is an extremely wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.
Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.
Hekate's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 15, 1871. It was last officially observed on May 9, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 7,165 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Hekate is indicated by a ◯ pink circle. Note that the object may not be in your current field of view. Use the controls below to adjust position, location, and time.